SINGAPORE: A foreigner in Singapore who has lived in different countries called Singaporeans “so far the healthiest looking” he has ever seen, in spite of the calorically dense offerings typically found in hawker centres.
In an Oct 5 (Sunday) post on r/askSingapore, u/spacoom wrote that Singaporeans are “so slim” and asked what their secret is.
He wrote that he’s been on a fitness journey for the past six months. When his family recently visited Singapore, he took them to hawker centres to show them the different local specialities, but was shocked.
“A small plate of kway teow is half my daily calories, and I am a decently big guy. The same goes for chicken rice, xiao long bao, char siew, and even carrot cake. When we go out, I restrain myself and still get over 1k calories in 1 sitting, and I don’t even get that full,” he wrote.
While he’s lived in different counties, including those in the Mediterranean, which is well known for fitness, he noted that “SG is far, far ahead, especially in terms of elderly fitness,” but asked, “How does this work? Do people just eat infrequently? Do they somehow have higher caloric expenditure?
What’s the secret? I love local foods and want to be able to enjoy them but have no idea how to fit them into my nutrition.”
Commenters on the post have been quick to oblige with helpful answers, including those that have to do with genetics.
Some pointed out that Singaporeans walk more than those from other nations, easily reaching 5,000 to 10,000 steps every day, especially working adults.
They added that portion sizes in Singapore are smaller and perhaps more reasonable than in other countries and that some hawker fare is actually healthy, such as thunder tea rice, yong tow foo, fish soup, popiah, and bee hoon.
“Even chicken rice is healthy, especially if you get the steamed chicken set with the vegetables,” they wrote.
However, a Reddit user pointed out that Singaporeans may not be as healthy as the post author thinks.
“Asians have a tendency to accumulate visceral fat rather than subcutaneous fat, so we look trim on the outside but may not be any less unhealthy. That said, Singaporeans tend to get a lot more exercise, so I guess generally better heart health and fitness?” they wrote.
“A lot of people here (at least guys) are skinny fat. Can see it when we wear office wear and the tummy bulges out,” another agreed.
“Can’t speak for everyone, but most people I know aren’t eating char kway teow, hokkien mee, satay, or carrot cake every day. Also, if you see the crowd at ActiveSG gyms or run clubs at CBD on weekday nights, there’s quite a lot of people who lead an active lifestyle,” a commenter added. /TISG
Read also: ‘I’m not overweight,’ SG woman says she was fat-shamed and laughed at by staff at Bugis shop
